Method of and apparatus for estimating motion vector based on sizes of neighboring partitions, encoder, decoding, and decoding method

Abstract

Provided are a method of and apparatus for estimating a motion vector using the sizes of neighboring partitions, an encoder, a decoder, and a decoding method. The method includes comparing the size of a first neighboring partition located to the left of the current block with the size of a second neighboring partition located above the current block and, if the size of the first neighboring partition and the size of the second neighboring partition are different from each other, estimating a motion vector of the larger one of the first neighboring partition and the second neighboring partition as the motion vector of the current block.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method of estimating a motion vector of a current block using motion vectors of neighboring partitions around the current block, the method comprising:
 comparing a size of a first neighboring partition located to a left of the current block with a size of a second neighboring partition located above the current block; and 
 if the size of the first neighboring partition and the size of the second neighboring partition are different, estimating a motion vector of a larger one of the first neighboring partition and the second neighboring partition as the motion vector of the current block. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first neighboring partition is located uppermost among neighboring partitions located to the left of the current block and the second neighboring partition is located leftmost among neighboring partitions located above the current block. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the current block is composed of 16×16 pixels. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the size of the first neighboring partition is one of 16×16, 16×8, 8×16, 8×4, 4×8, and 4×4 and the size of the second neighboring partition is one of 16×16, 16×8, 8×16, 8×4, 4×8, and 4×4 and the size of the first and the size of the second neighboring partitions are different. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising transmitting mode information of the current block. 
     
     
       6. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for implementing the method claimed in  claim 1 . 
     
     
       7. An apparatus for estimating a motion vector of a current block using motion vectors of neighboring partitions around the current block, the apparatus comprising:
 a partition size comparison unit which compares a size of a first neighboring partition located to a left of the current block with a size of a second neighboring partition located above the current block; and 
 a motion vector estimation unit which, if the size of the first neighboring partition and the size of the second neighboring partition are different, estimates a motion vector of a larger one of the first neighboring partition and the second neighboring partition as the motion vector of the current block. 
 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the first neighboring partition is located uppermost among neighboring partitions located to the left of the current block and the second neighboring partition is located leftmost among neighboring partitions located above the current block. 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the current block is composed of 16×16 pixels. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the size of the first neighboring partition is one of 16×16, 16×8, 8×16, 8×4, 4×8, and 4×4 and the size of the second neighboring partition is one of 16×16, 16×8, 8×16, 8×4, 4×8, and 4×4 and the size of the first and the size of the second neighboring partitions are different. 
     
     
       11. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the motion vector estimation unit transmits mode information of the current block. 
     
     
       12. A video encoder comprising:
 a motion vector estimation apparatus which compares a size of a first neighboring partition located to a left of a current block with a size of a second neighboring partition located above the current block and, if the size of the first neighboring partition and the size of the second neighboring partition are different, estimates a motion vector of a larger one of the first neighboring partition and the second neighboring partition as a motion vector of the current block; and 
 an entropy-coding unit which performs entropy-coding on mode information of the current block. 
 
     
     
       13. The video encoder of  claim 12 , wherein the first neighboring partition is located uppermost among neighboring partitions located to the left of the current block and the second neighboring partition is located leftmost among neighboring partitions located above the current block. 
     
     
       14. The video encoder of  claim 12 , wherein the current block is composed of 16×16 pixels. 
     
     
       15. The video encoder of  claim 12 , wherein the size of the first neighboring partition is one of 16×16, 16×8, 8×16, 8×4, 4×8, and 4×4 and the size of the second neighboring partition is one of 16×16, 16×8, 8×16, 8×4, 4×8, and 4×4 and the size of the first and the size of the second neighboring partitions are different. 
     
     
       16. A video decoder comprising:
 an entropy-decoding unit which performs entropy-decoding on a residual block and mode information of a current block from an encoded bitstream; 
 a motion vector estimation unit which compares a size of a first neighboring partition located to a left of the current block with a size of a second neighboring partition located above the current block based on the decoded mode information and estimates a motion vector of a larger one of the first neighboring partition and the second neighboring partition as a motion vector of the current block; and 
 a macroblock reconstruction unit which reconstructs the current block from the decoded residual block using the estimated motion vector of the current block. 
 
     
     
       17. The video decoder of  claim 16 , wherein the first neighboring partition is located uppermost among neighboring partitions located to the left of the current block and the second neighboring partition is located leftmost among neighboring partitions located above the current block. 
     
     
       18. The video decoder of  claim 16 , wherein the current block is composed of 16×16 pixels. 
     
     
       19. The video decoder of  claim 16 , wherein the size of the first neighboring partition is one of 16×16, 16×8, 8×16, 8×4, 4×8, and 4×4 and the size of the second neighboring partition is one of 16×16, 16×8, 8×16, 8×4, 4×8, and 4×4, and the size of the first and the size of the second neighboring partitions are different. 
     
     
       20. A decoding method, comprising:
 performing entropy-decoding on a residual block and mode information from an encoded bitstream; 
 comparing a size of a first neighboring partition located to a left of a current block with a size of a second neighboring partition located above the current block based on the decoded mode information; 
 estimating a motion vector of a larger one of the first neighboring partition and the second neighboring partition as a motion vector of the current block according; and 
 reconstructing the current block from the decoded residual block using the estimated motion vector of the current block. 
 
     
     
       21. The decoding method of  claim 20 , wherein the first neighboring partition is located uppermost among neighboring partitions located to the left of the current block and the second neighboring partition is located leftmost among neighboring partitions located above the current block. 
     
     
       22. The decoding method of  claim 20 , wherein the current block is composed of 16×16 pixels. 
     
     
       23. The video decoding method of  claim 20 , wherein the size of the first neighboring partition is one of 16×16, 16×8, 8×16, 8×4, 4×8, and 4×4 and the size of the second neighboring partition is one of 16×16, 16×8, 8×16, 8×4, 4×8, and 4×4, and the size of the first and the size of the second neighboring partitions are different. 
     
     
       24. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for implementing the decoding method claimed in  claim 20 .